Exponential Asymptotics in a Singular Limit for nn-Level Scattering Systems

The singular limit \eps\ra 0 of the $S$-matrix associated with the equation i\eps d\psi(t)/dt=H(t)\psi(t) is considered, where the analytic generator H(t)\in M_n(\C) is such that its spectrum is real and non-degenerate for all $t\in\R$. Sufficient conditions allowing to compute asymptotic formulas for the exponentially small off-diagonal elements of the $S$-matrix as \eps\ra 0 are explicited and a wide class of generators for which these conditions are verified is defined. These generators are obtained by means of generators whose spectrum exhibits eigenvalue crossings which are perturbed in such a way that these crossings turn to avoided crossings. The exponentially small asymptotic formulas which are derived are shown to be valid up to exponentially small relative error, by means of a joint application of the complex WKB method together with superasymptotic renormalization. The application of these results to the study of quantum adiabatic transitions in the time dependent Schr\"odinger equation and of the semiclassical scattering properties of the multichannel stationary Schr\"odinger equation closes this paper. The results presented here are a generalization to $n$-level systems, $n\geq 2$, of results previously known for $2$-level systems only.Comment: 35 pages, Late

Density of States and Thouless Formula for Random Unitary Band Matrices

We study the density of states measure for some class of random unitary band matrices and prove a Thouless formula relating it to the associated Lyapunov exponent. This class of random matrices appears in the study of the dynamical stability of certain quantum systems and can also be considered as a unitary version of the Anderson model. We further determine the support of the density of states measure and provide a condition ensuring it possesses an analytic density

An Adiabatic Theorem for Singularly Perturbed Hamiltonians

The adiabatic approximation in quantum mechanics is considered in the case where the self-adjoint hamiltonian $H_0(t)$, satisfying the usual spectral gap assumption in this context, is perturbed by a term of the form $\epsilon H_1(t)$. Here $\epsilon \to 0$ is the adiabaticity parameter and $H_1(t)$ is a self-adjoint operator defined on a smaller domain than the domain of $H_0(t)$. Thus the total hamiltonian $H_0(t)+\epsilon H_1(t)$ does not necessarily satisfy the gap assumption, $\forall \epsilon >0$. It is shown that an adiabatic theorem can be proven in this situation under reasonnable hypotheses. The problem considered can also be viewed as the study of a time-dependent system coupled to a time-dependent perturbation, in the limit of large coupling constant.Comment: 17 pages, LaTe

Spectral Properties of Non-Unitary Band Matrices

We consider families of random non-unitary contraction operators defined as deformations of CMV matrices which appear naturally in the study of random quantum walks on trees or lattices. We establish several deterministic and almost sure results about the location and nature of the spectrum of such non-normal operators as a function of their parameters. We relate these results to the analysis of certain random quantum walks, the dynamics of which can be studied by means of iterates of such random non-unitary contraction operators.Comment: updated version, to appear in Annales Henri Poincar

Fractal Weyl Law for Open Chaotic Maps

This contribution summarizes our work with M.Zworski on open quantum open chaoticmaps (math-ph/0505034). For a simple chaotic scattering system (the open quantum baker's map), we compute the "long-living resonances" in the semiclassical r\'{e}gime, and show that they satisfy a fractal Weyl law. We can prove this fractal law in the case of a modified model.Comment: Contribution to the Proceedings of the conference QMath9, Mathematical Physics of Quantum Mechanics, September 12th-16th 2004, Giens, Franc

Dynamical Localization of Quantum Walks in Random Environments

The dynamics of a one dimensional quantum walker on the lattice with two internal degrees of freedom, the coin states, is considered. The discrete time unitary dynamics is determined by the repeated action of a coin operator in U(2) on the internal degrees of freedom followed by a one step shift to the right or left, conditioned on the state of the coin. For a fixed coin operator, the dynamics is known to be ballistic. We prove that when the coin operator depends on the position of the walker and is given by a certain i.i.d. random process, the phenomenon of Anderson localization takes place in its dynamical form. When the coin operator depends on the time variable only and is determined by an i.i.d. random process, the averaged motion is known to be diffusive and we compute the diffusion constants for all moments of the position

Spectral Properties of Quantum Walks on Rooted Binary Trees

We define coined Quantum Walks on the infinite rooted binary tree given by unitary operators $U(C)$ on an associated infinite dimensional Hilbert space, depending on a unitary coin matrix $C\in U(3)$, and study their spectral properties. For circulant unitary coin matrices $C$, we derive an equation for the Carath\'eodory function associated to the spectral measure of a cyclic vector for $U(C)$. This allows us to show that for all circulant unitary coin matrices, the spectrum of the Quantum Walk has no singular continuous component. Furthermore, for coin matrices $C$ which are orthogonal circulant matrices, we show that the spectrum of the Quantum Walk is absolutely continuous, except for four coin matrices for which the spectrum of $U(C)$ is pure point